January 2021

For decades, high school juniors embarked on the spring-semester adventure of visiting colleges to glimpse what might lie in their futures. Families planned spring break around these visits, perhaps flying out of state and renting a car to hit a number of campuses within driving distance of a central location, such as Los Angeles or Chicago. Others started out from home in the family SUV with a map (I recommend Hedberg’s U.S. College and University Reference Map) and hopscotched from campus to campus. Because spring break is never enough time to entertain all the possibilities, most schools allow their juniors “excused absences” for college visits while school is in session, as well.

Hundreds of campuses are closed to visitors or allowing only small groups that may not be able to go into buildings. But that doesn’t mean that juniors can’t start researching colleges. In another article, I’ll tell you how to take advantage of all the ways colleges have worked to become more accessible virtually, but for now, let’s look at how you can still conduct some fact-gathering in the flesh.

These excursions are good for determining what type of school you may feel most comfortable in. Most students live within an hour or two of schools with a range of sizes and types of location.

Even though you probably won’t get the full experiences your older siblings had pre-pandemic, visiting college is still important to the process. It’s how you can narrow down some of the important factors to consider: size (small, medium, large), location (urban, suburban, rural), and environment (hot and humid, temperate year-round, cold and snowy). You may want an environment totally different from where you are now. But if you live in Georgia and think you want a school in upstate NY, then you have to go there in the thick of winter—and not just for a ski vacation.

But how can you visit colleges during a pandemic? You must plan ahead and plan carefully.

There are basically two types of visits you can make: close-to-home day trips and away-from-home overnight trips.

Close-to-home day trips

            Look for nearby examples of:

            a large school                        a medium-sized school                   a small school

                        and

            an urban campus                 a suburban campus                         a rural campus

Whether or not you want to stay close to home when you go to college, it’s wise to get an idea of how size and location can affect your experience. You may be able to visit one school in the morning, eat lunch, and visit a second school in the afternoon. (Don’t try to do more than two in a day!)

1. Decide on possible days for visits. If you’re taking an excused absence from school, check to be sure what you’re missing can be readily made up.

2. Research your options ahead of time. Some schools aren’t welcoming visitors at all. You can usually find answers to the following questions on the “Visit” tab of the college website; if it’s not on the website, call admissions and ask.

Is the campus giving tours? Is it open when you plan to be there? Will they take you inside buildings? Can you see a freshman dorm? Can you visit the recreation facility? Can you sit down with an admissions officer? Sit in on a class?

3. If tours are available, sign up and meticulously follow the protocols specified.

4. Show up for the tour a few minutes early so that you can secure a parking space and find the admissions office.

5. Write down questions and ask them. Take notes and lots of pictures. You can download a list of questions here: https://www.twobridgescollegeconsult.com/blog/2021/0/05/questions-to-ask-on-college-visits/

6. Immediately after your visit, write down your impressions and cross-reference these with your notes and photos. You can download a handy note-taking form for college visits here:  

Away-from-home overnight trips

1. Decide on possible dates for your visits. If it’s spring break for you, it may coincide with a college’s spring break; on the other hand, it may not. You want to visit when classes are in session.

2. Choose an area that has at least a few campuses within it. For example, if you go to Atlanta for spring break, you can easily hit six or more colleges that are within just minutes of each other. (I stayed with my Uncle John in Atlanta and visited to Emory, Oglethorpe, Agnes Scott, Morehouse, Spelman, and—a bit farther out—UGA.) Most any big city will do.

3. Research your options ahead of time. Some schools aren’t welcoming visitors at all. You can usually find answers to the following questions on the “Visit” tab of the college website; if it’s not on the website, call admissions and ask.

Is the campus giving tours? Is it open when you plan to be there? Will they take you inside buildings? Can you see a freshman dorm? Can you visit the recreation facility? Can you sit down with an admissions officer? Sit in on a class?

4. If tours are available, sign up and meticulously follow the protocols specified. Here’s what Eckerd College in St. Pete, Florida, has to say about tours, and you’ll find similar guidelines at other schools that accept visitors:

Campus Tour*
*Our top priority is to keep our students, faculty, staff and visiting families safe and healthy. A limited number of campus visits are available with appropriate safety protocols in place. We are not able to accommodate walk-in visitors or self-guided tours at this time.

Your campus visit will include a student-led tour and an optional meeting with an Admission Counselor. Tour groups will be limited to one family unit of no more than four total individuals.

In response to COVID-19, Eckerd College has instituted the following procedures:

• Due to the limited nature of our current campus visit program, we are asking only students who are seeking admission for 2021 or 2022 to join us for an on-campus visit.
• We will take your and your guests’ temperature while you remain in your car. We will follow the guidelines of the CDC and if anyone in your group has a temperature that is 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or greater, your group will not be able to tour Eckerd.  
• We ask that each member of your group wear a face covering during your visit; we will have masks available in case you do not bring your own. Bandanas, gaiters, buffs, face coverings with exhalation valves or vents or similar face coverings are not permitted for use on campus.

5. Show up for the tour a few minutes early so that you can secure a parking space and find the admissions office.

6. Write down questions before you go and ask them. Take notes and lots of pictures. You can download a list of questions here: https://www.twobridgescollegeconsult.com/blog/2021/01/05/questions-to-ask-on-college-visits/

7. Immediately after your visit, write down your impressions and cross-reference these with your notes and photos. You can download a handy note-taking form for college visits here: 

It’s hard but not impossible to visit colleges these days. The key, more than ever, is careful planning.

Coming next: How juniors and sophomores can take advantage of the many ways colleges are striving to make it possible to connect with them virtually.

Sidebar:

Maryland/D.C. College Tours

Generally, smaller campuses, like the public St. Mary’s College of Maryland and the private Hood College, are still doing tours, though for small groups only.

University of Maryland, College Park—no in-person tours, plenty of virtual options to be announced in late January

Towson University—no in-person tours, virtual tours by YouVisit.

Salisbury University—limited capacity tours available., as well as Zoom meetings and scheduled SU Calls You with admissions counselors.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland—Hosting visitors on campus, limited to one or two “families” (of two guests) at a time, by appointment only; not able to accommodate walk-in visitors.

Hood College—Offering on-campus visits by pre-registration seven days prior to the visit date, with preference given to current high school seniors. Note: “On December 17 Maryland’s governor released an emergency order concerning travel. In response to this order, Hood College is currently welcoming out-of-state visitors to campus after they have obtained a negative COVID-19 test OR quarantined for ten days.”

American U. in Washington, D.C.—welcoming prospective students and families (maximum 3 to a group) who observe the covid-19 safety guidelines and register at least a day in advance; not accommodating walk-ins.